GROUND-BASED IMAGE AND DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS FOR ROADWAY INVENTORIES IN NEW ENGLAND A SYNTHESIS OF HIGHWAY PRACTICE Jason DeGray, Research Assistant Kathleen L. Hancock, PE, PhD., Associate Professor Prepared for The New England Transportation Consortium August 2002 NETCR 30 Project No. 00-1 This report, prepared in cooperation with the New England Transportation Consortium, does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the New England Transportation Consortium or the Federal Highway Administration. Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. NETCR 30 N/A N/A 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date GROUND-BASED IMAGE AND DATA ACQUISITION August 2002 SYSTEMS 6. Performing Organization Code FOR ROADWAY INVENTORIES IN NEW ENGLAND A SYNTHESIS OF HIGHWAY PRACTICE N/A 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. NETCR 30 Jason DeGray Kathleen Hancock, PE, PhD 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) University of Massachusetts N/A Transportation Center 11. Contract or Grant No. 214 Marston Hall Amherst, MA 01003 N/A 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered New England Transportation Consortium Final 179 Middle Turnpike University of Connecticut, U-202 Storrs, CT 06269-5202 14. Sponsoring Agency Code NETC 00-1 A study conducted in cooperation with the US DOT 15. Supplementary Notes N/A 16. Abstract Across New England, the use of ground-based imaging technologies ranges from very sophisticated, to very simple, to not used at all. The primary objective of this project is to quantify and summarize the use of ground-based imagery in the six New England states and to provide an overview of the benefits of ground-based imaging technologies. A secondary objective is to determine what kind of linkage exists between roadway databases and GIS systems across the New England states and provide information to the states about the potential benefits of linking these tools. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Ground-based imagery, No restrictions. This document is available through the National videolog, data acquisition, Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161. roadway inventories, GIS 19. Security Classif. (Of this report) 20. Security Classif. (Of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 189 N/A Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES v SUMMARY 1 CHAPTER 1 2 BACKGROUND 2 GOVERNMENT AIDS AND MANDATES 2 TECHNOLOGY 5 IMAGES 7 OTHER DATA 12 ISSUES AROUND GROUND-BASED IMAGING 13 INCORPORATING GROUND-BASED IMAGERY INTO GIS 18 METHODOLOGY 20 CHAPTER 2 25 OVERVIEW OF NEW ENGLAND PRACTICES 25 CONNECTICUT 26 MAINE 28 MASSACHUSETTS 30 NEW HAMPSHIRE 31 RHODE ISLAND 31 VERMONT 32 CHAPTER 3 33 STATE OF THE PRACTICE OF GROUND-BASED IMAGERY AND DATA COLLECTION IN NEW ENGLAND 33 ROADWAY INVENTORIES 33 IMAGE ACQUISITION 36 PROCESSING, STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION 40 SUMMARY 42 CHAPTER 4 44 USING GIS 44 SUMMARY 53 CHAPTER 5 54 GROUND-BASED IMAGERY AND DATA COLLECTION FLORIDA 54 ARKANSAS 56 IOWA 57 OHIO 57 TEXAS 58 OTHER STATES 58 SUMMARY 58 CHAPTER 6 60 CONCLUSIONS 60 REFERENCES 65 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 67 iii APPENDIX A- STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SURVEY APPENDIX B- GIS AGENCY SURVEY APPENDIX C- MAINE AUTOMATED SHIM ANALYSIS PROGRAM USER’S GUIDE APPENDIX D- NEW HAMPSHIRE MANUAL OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR ROAD INVENTORY APPENDIX E- CONNECTICUT TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE SUMMARY TABLES OF OTHER TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES APPENDIX F- CONTACTS AND SYSTEM PROVIDERS iv LIST OF TABLES Page TABLE 1- ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MAJOR MEANS OF INVENTORY DATA COLLECTION 18 TABLE 2- ROADWAY IMAGES, INVENTORY ELEMENTS AND REFERENCING SYSTEMS 22 TABLE 3- GENERAL NEW ENGLAND CHARACTERISTICS 25 TABLE 4- ROADWAY GEOMETRY/FEATURES EXTRACTED FROM IMAGERY 34 TABLE 5- DATA COLEECTED AND ASSOCIATED ACQUISITION DISTANCE INTERVALS 35 TABLE 6- INFORMATION PRODUCED FROM THE CAPTURED DATA 36 TABLE 7- APPROXIMATE CENTERLINE MILES LOGGED 37 TABLE 8- MEDIUM EMPLOYED FOR IMAGE STORAGE 37 TABLE 9- ROADWAY VIEWS RECORDED 38 TABLE 10- EXTENT OF WHICH IMAGERY IS CAPTURED 39 TABLE 11- DISTANCE INTERVAL BETWEEN IMAGE ACQUISITION 39 TABLE 12- IMAGE FILTERING 40 TABLE 13- DIGITAL IMAGE STORAGE CHARCTERISTICS 41 TABLE 14- DIGITAL IMAGE STORAGE CHARCTERISTICS 42 TABLE 15- GIS SYSTEMS 45 TABLE 16- FORMS OF SPATIAL LOCATION REFERENCING 46 TABLE 17- WAREHOUSING TECHNIQUES 47 TABLE 18- TRANSPORTATION DATA WITHIN THE GIS 48 TABLE 19- DISTANCE INTERVAL BETWEEN DATA POINTS AND DATA UPDATE CHARACTERISTICS 49 TABLE 20- DATA ORIGIN 50 TABLE 21- VIDEOLOG USAGE 51 TABLE 22- MEANS OF ROADWAY DIGITATION 52 TABLE 23- EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION 52 v GROUND-BASED IMAGE AND ROADWAY DATA ACQUISITION IN NEW ENGLAND SUMMARY Transportation is a broad and important subject; data required by engineers, planners, and field workers cover many different topics. State transportation agencies, therefore, generally require one or more maintainable databases of roadway data. These databases range from very basic to exceptionally intricate and include information from physical attributes of the roadway (termed “roadway inventories”), to collision records, signal timings, and utility data, among others. In many cases, data are collected and maintained by different groups within the transportation community. For example, the police may maintain collision records, while traffic characteristics are maintained by a transportation- operations agency. Many data sets may be acquired from ground-based imagery, a technology commonly known as videologging. A videolog is the result of recording continuous images of a roadway. From this video, roadway inventories and data such as centerline location, signs, guardrails, and geometric road characteristics can be collected. Along with the video, other data are often collected simultaneously using other collection equipment and techniques. These data include, but are not limited to, chainage, pavement conditions, vehicle attitude, and GPS coordinates. Across New England, the use of ground-based imaging technologies ranges from very sophisticated, to very simple, to not used at all. The primary objective of this project is to quantify and summarize the use of ground-based imagery in the six New England states and to provide an overview of the benefits of ground-based imaging technologies. Data collected in the ground-based imaging process are also potentially very useful in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These systems store and manage geo-spatially referenced information and provide rapid access to many users. GIS can act as a database manager and analysis tool for the transportation data collected during the imaging process. A secondary objective of this project is to determine what kind of linkage exists between roadway databases and GIS systems across the New England states and provide information to the states about the potential benefits of linking these tools. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background Government Aid and Mandates The need for collection of highway data was first recognized in the United States in 1892 with the Good Roads Movement. Although this bill did not pass, it was the first attempt to require some level of examination of the condition of the nation’s roadways. The following year, a bill passed that allowed the Secretary of Agriculture to "make inquiry regarding public roads" and "make investigation for a better system of roads" (Ritter 1994). This bill also provided $10,000 towards the development of the Office of Road Inquiry (ORI), the predecessor of today’s Federal Highway Administration. This office was strictly limited to investigating and disseminating information and was not tasked to develop a formal system of organization for maintaining roadways. In 1904, the ORI, renamed the Office of Public Roads Inquiry (OPR), attempted to inventory all roads outside of major cities in the United States. This was the largest undertaking of this office at that time. The inventory mainly focused on roadway laws, expenditures, and revenue streams. The only physical characteristic of the road collected at that time was mileage classified by surface type. Between 1893 and 1916, some states formed their own Departments of Transportation and took over the data collection. The ORI/OPR continued to collect roadway data in the remaining states. The 1916 Federal Aid Road Act formulated a method of federally funding states for building and maintaining roadways. This act also required that each state form a department of transportation. 2 In 1920 the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), formally the ORI/OPR, surveyed all roads and began a roadway classification process, determining what roads were in the greatest need of improvement and developing a system to allocate funds towards the maintenance of these roadways. The 1934 Hayden-Cartwright Act denied federal funds to any state that diverted federal highway revenues for other purposes. Also included in this act was a proviso that permitted states to use 1½ percent of their matched federal-aid towards planning for future work. This type of investigation included the collection and analysis of data to be used in the planning process. The accord between the states and the BPR specifically allowed for three types